Muffler damage?

[Boxer_Bolshie]

Got a chance to clean up the mufflers today only to discover a couple of concerns. First I heard some loose debris inside the mufflers and little bits of stuff shakes out (smells somewhat burnt)



And lastly there are cracks in the chrome where the "L" brackets mount

This is the worse one


Can anyone tell me whether or not I am in need of new mufflers or are these easily repairable?  

Thanks!

[tvrla]

Condensation is the killer of mufflers. They get hot when working then draw in moisture when cooling down. When a car or bike is first started and until it warms up you'll see white smoke - that's actually steam coming from the mufflers from the trapped water.

So it is really common to get rusty flakes out of a muffler. If the muffler is solid, don't worry about it.

As for the cracks, a lot of them do that. I've got a set of stainless that have a crack about half that long. Weld it up with chrome rod and keep using them.

[Barry]

Internal corrosion holed my original Zeuna silencers so when I got a replacement set I bunged up one end an poured in a thin solution of waxoyl rust treatment, gave them a good shaking to coat all the internal surfaces and then poured out the surplus.  

They didn't even smoke when I put them on although I did leave them for several weeks before fitting to allow all the solvent to flash off.

Even thin oil would work but I guess they would then definitely smoke.

I don't believe there is packing material of any description in the silencers so at worst this treatment shouldn't do any harm. One day I going to cut open an old silencer to look at the internal construction.

[tvrla]

Wirewrkr did that a couple years ago. Maybe he'll post up the pix, I'd like to see them again.

[Boxer_Bolshie]

Thanks again wirespokes! You've eased my mind.  

I don't have a stick welder (have a wire fed MIG) so may have a friend do it for me.

Will be putting some lighter SS on my upgrade wish list  

[Milo_357]

I've taken both my muffler to the local welder for repairs.  The tube section where it goes over the pipes had rusted on both.  They repaired them for $20 a pop, a nice, nice savings over new mufflers!  Check you local guys and see what they can do for you.

[tvrla]

You're full of good ideas Barry! I never would have thought of that one!

And you're welcome BB! Get the 'new' bars installed yet?

By the way - the flakes from your muffler look more like carbon than rust. The stuff flakes off after the mufflers haven't been used in a while.